Let’s see if I can keep up with this and have part 2 done before August 1st!

And finally… Happy Birthday, love! *SMOOCHIES!!*

That said, I’m off to go work on Kat’s Libra… I just finished up a bunch of confetti and want to enjoy stitching some of the pretty pink cotton candy background!

Today, my family chased me to the doctor. I waved to Jenni hard at work doing cool thermal stuff on my way there and then sat in the doctor’s office and did some stitching until it was my turn. The doc poked at my foot, tugged on my toes and compared one foot to the other. She told me I was stubborn for waiting so long to come in and then for refusing pain meds because it doesn’t hurt that badly that often. (Besides, I choke down enough pills a day as it is. Bleh!) So she bustled me off to radiology to have an x-ray taken and told me to keep off of it and that she’ll call me back once radiology sends her the results. So I packed my stuff up, hopped in the car and waved to Jenni again as I headed over to get my foot x-rayed. I made some more Xs while I waited. Have I mentioned that those plates they use are COLD? So after being poked, prodded and frozen, I hobbled home and crashed on the sofa and prodded Scott into entertaining me by playing Half-Life 2. I did some more stitching and realized the humor of what I had stitched for the day. Those two candy canes are the letter “r” in the word “merry” however the phrase, “Be err…” had me giggling earlier today and has me giggling now. And before anyone asks, that white doo-dad is a snowflake.

I have another stitchy picture around here somewhere, too. It’s Candice Dillhoff’s “Mermaid Thinking” charted by Heaven and Earth Designs. It was a birthday present from Sonya and I worked on her over Thanksgiving as part of the Holiday/Mermaid HAED SAL. If you don’t know what all those letters mean, you probably don’t want to know. Here’s my big blue-eyed sparkly thinking girl… now with some hair! There’s another SAL at the end of December and I hope to be able to give her some more hair then, but P&Ds are calling loudly!

1: Finished Diane’s part of the HAED RR. (Verdure)
2: Started Chatelaine’s Rose & Butterfly Quilt
3: Bobbinated (all 113 colors!) and started Mermaid for CC on 3
4: Started Blackstone Fantasy Garden
5: Worked on Touched by Magic (and still am)

Slogging through all of the confetti on “Verdure” was my biggest chore and accomplishment for the month. I was oh, so late in posting her, (bad bad Sue!) and I have already started on the next RR installment (due April 20th) and I promise to not be late this time! For all that she was 95% confetti, she does look gorgeous! I will bow to the feet of anyone who finishes this chart for their tenacity for all the detail stitches this chart entails!

I bought myself a Chatelaine mystery (gulp!), my first ever, for Christmas, the Rose and Butterfly Quilt, and I finally got my kit at the beginning of February. I spent a day working on it just so I could pet the silks and give things a whirl.

For CC on 3, I started Sylvia Polster’s “Mermaid” and made excellent progress. Things should slow down a bit this month as I will reach some of the details of her hair, but I am looking forward to it as the blues are positively gorgeous! (See my last blog entry for a WIP picture.)

And finally, I started Ink Circles “Blackstone Fantasy Garden.” It’s stitched on Passione Ricamo’s Linen and I just can’t gush enough about this fabric! It’s gorgeous! The chart is also highly addictive and I have to pry myself away from it in order to work on other things.

I’m currently working on one of my favorite WIPs, Scott Gustafson’s “Touched By Magic.” You’ll see a WIP picture of it when I’m done stitching on it for this stint. It’s still in the stand and has my attention. I love all the blues and the fact that it was the wallpaper I chose for my daughters’ nursery in 2000 makes it even more special!

And now I hope I do you proud, Vicky. Here is a picture taken through my second floor rear ummm… what’s the hoity-toity word for it? *does that thinkthinkthink thing just like Poohbear* Vestibule! That’s the word! Basically, it’s a two-story opening above my back door with this window above it. It’s a bugger to clean, but makes a lovely frame, especially with snow-covered trees outside. (click left)
Hopefully we won’t get the rain and/or freezing rain that’s been sort of predicted for tonight and all this pretty snow will stay around for another day or so. *crosses her fingers*

Nic asked for a picture of my CC on 3 progress. I’m stitching “Mermaid” by Sylvia Polster. She is tented 2×2 on 48 count gauze (*nudges Fudgey*) and while the picture is gorgeous, I was totally stunned by the vibrancy of the blues! (click right)
This is a third of the first page and I can’t wait until next month when I get to work on her again!

And finally, I must rave about a new release from HAED that I will be starting sometime this year. It’s Renee Biertempfel’s “Protection” and it totally caught me off guard when I saw it. When I had first looked at her work, I didn’t see anything that I’d want to stitch. Obviously, I’d not seen this one. So when this was released, I was totally gobsmacked. An angel… in red… and with a sword! *thud* It is, of course, a huge chart at 400 x 633, but as Fudgey likes to remind me, I always seem to fall for the large charts. I’ve got the chart all printed, the floss gathered (but not bobbinated) and the fabric is on order. I’ve even already decided which page I’ll be starting with. (The middle one so I can stitch part of that glorious red cloak of hers!)

Enough gushing for now… did I mention that I started Blackstone Fantasy Garden this weekend? *winks*

It’s been over a week since the ice storm. Scott got the car out of the driveway for me on Tuesday and it’s been parked in the street since then. It’s been warm and sunny and things have been melting. *cheers* So today, I felt industrious and went outside to shovel the rest of the stuff off of the driveway so that my guests for stitching night would have less of the aforementioned stuff to drive through and walk through. It was pleasant enough outside, 50 degrees F (that’s 10 degrees Celsius for the civilized parts of the world) and sunny. So I grabbed my sunglasses, donned my coat and mittens and boots, of course (more on that in a bit) and grabbed the shovel.

Let’s talk about why ice should be left to keep drinks cold and used for those lovely ice sculptures you see on cruise ship buffets and at weddings, shall we? It’s been over a week since this stuff was dumped on us. It’s melted a bunch… in some places, anyway. So, go get yourself four snocones of shaved ice. Don’t bother putting any flavoring in it, it would be a waste of perfectly good sugar! Now, dump those snocones in a plugged-up bathroom sink. Add about a cup and a half or so of water until the ice starts to melt a bit. Now get a spoon and start poking at it and scooping it up and dumping it back in the sink. Hear that lovely wet icy splooshing sound? Yeah… you get the idea. Oh, and for any blondes or anyone having a blonde day reading this, don’t go sticking your hands in the water… it’s COLD!

Where was I? Oh right… shoveling melted snocone spooge. I get about a third of the driveway done and things are going well. Then the sun goes in. Bugger. Must press on. I’m getting company tonight and I want this driveway clear! The wind starts to pick up. Lovely. Then I mumble as I splash myself in the face… or so I thought. You can see where this is going, can’t you? Two-thirds done… I can do this! Double bugger… it’s raining AND windy now. Kathie and Mike drive by and must think I’m nuts… which is true, actually, but standing outside in the wind and rain shoveling stuff off of the driveway is more nuts than usual. Since I was already cold and soaked I decided to just finish shoveling what I could lift and be done with it.

I was rewarded with TADA… being able to finally drive the car into the garage.

Sort of anti-climatic, isn’t it? You know what’s worse? Not less than ten minutes after I came into the house and peeled off my soaking wet clothes there isn’t a cloud in the sky and the sun is shining brightly.

You win, Mother Nature, I’m going to go take a nap.

Enough about my driveway — how about a stitchy picture? (click right)
I gave myself a Christmas present on December 23rd – I joined my first Chatelaine mystery. I never thought I would join because not knowing exactly what I was getting and spending all that $$$ on silks really made me squeamish. But I *love* pretty borders and Martina snagged me but good with her Rose & Butterfly Quilt. I finally got my kit last Thursday and started! This is the optional decorative outer border – the part that snagged me and it’s been a joy to stitch so far. I had to put it away to get back to Diane’s RR (which I am ashamed to say still isn’t done *hangs her head*). It’s got lots of gorgeous greens and tons of NPIs which makes it pricey, but I ordered my kit before the end of last year so it had the pre-price hike cost. I love stitching with NPIs. *swoons*

Are you joining our Character Creations SAL this weekend? Kerry has some gorgeous charts to pick from! There’s still time to kit something up and join us! *holds up her CC on 3 sign and dances around*

And finally… one of my favorite pictures of my Starbaby. (click left)
We adopted her from the animal shelter almost nine years ago. She’s part Maine Coon cat and gorgeous – if you can ever see her. She’s very shy and quite the Mommy’s girl. Her real name is Stardust, but I never seem to call her that. My latest nickname for her is Fluffernutter because she is one very fluffy kitty (her fur still feels like it did when she was a kitten) and she is totally nuts because she’s such a wuss and hides from everyone. It’s only after having stitching night here for years that some of the girls have finally seen her!

Next up is my next try at a floss toss for Tracy’s always-droolable Blackstone Fantasy Garden. (click left)
I’ve changed the variegated floss for the largest of the knotwork to Gloriana’s Honey Bronze and I will follow the chart and make the variegated part two wide and put a one-wide X border around that floss in Vikki’s Quern-Stone 5161. The smaller of the knots will be in Vikki’s Cream which is a little darker than the Natural I used last toss with a gold Japan Thread highlight. I changed a few of the other silks from the more grey-beige ones to the more golden ones to complement the Honey Bronze colors. If any of them get lost in the fabric in blackwork, then I’ll just use one of the lighter shades. The Honey Bronze looks a smidge darker in the picture than it really is… *sigh* That said, what do you think?

Next up is just for you, Jeannie-Maree… because you’ve been gushing about Glorianas, I went poking around and found the Honey Bronze because of you. While shopping, some other colors just happened to fall into my shopping cart and I thought I’d share. (click right)
While I already had some Cranberry, one can always do with a spare and how about Schoolhouse Red? Deep Blue Sea sent me swooning and how can you not have Purkle Fred? *giggles*

Last up is the Zombie as my husband calls her. *sigh* I keep telling him that she’s a fairy, but he says, “She’s green. She has to be a zombie.” Hmph. She’s all confetti, but totally amazing and totally gorgeous! (click left)
Would you believe that no pinks or peaches were used to make that blush in her cheek? It’s all yellows, golds and chartreusey colors. Watching her appear has been one of the most amazing and enjoyable HAED stitching experiences I’ve had in a while. (I compare it to watching the castle appear in Gustafson’s “Touched by Magic” which I must get back to really soon!)

As I type this, it’s 8pm and the wind chill has it at -1 degrees Fahrenheit which, since we stupid Americans are still archaic when it comes to measurements, means a lovely -18 and change in Celsius. Of course, the front with all the moisture in it went through when it was a bit warmer, so we got ice instead of snow. If we’d get a good blizzard or something then I’d have a really good excuse to stay home and hibernate, But noooo… it’s clear, sunny and dry outside, so I have to scurry around outside in the cold bundled up in my good-to-negative-fifty-five-degrees-parka. BAH is all I have to say about that. BAH!!

1: Finished AMAP 8 letter “J” for Jeannie-Maree’s birthday. (Whee, a finish!)
2: Made progress on Diane’s RR which is the fairy’s face in Linda Ravenscroft’s “Verdure”
3: Stitched once on Nadia Tate’s “Accidental Witch-Cat” for QS Wednesday
4: Gridded and started Selina Fenech’s “Tomboy” (Wohoo!!)
5: Added some cotton candy background and part of the letter “L” to Kathie’s “Libra” by Sara Butcher during our Saturday SAL

For all that February is a short month, I sure hope to have more progress to report! We’ll be starting our Character Creations SAL (CC on 3) on the 16th and I’m totally stoked about that!

For my blobs, there are two. First up is my start on Selina Fenech’s full-size black and white Tomboy. It’s only a day or so of stitching and was when I was heavily congested and feeling quite unhappy about everything because I couldn’t even count to ten without botching something. (click left)
Can you figure out where I started? There’s hardly anything to go on! The grey fabric is working nicely, though, but the whites are still a bit of a challenge to see, although that may have been due to the sinus infection from another planet I was coping with. I love this chart and I so want to get back to stitching it! I can’t wait to see how these 21 “colors” are going to turn into such a masterpiece right before my eyes! *bounce*

My next blob is what I’ve been working on exclusively for the past week or so. As the antibiotics clear things up, my groove comes back in fits and starts. This RR piece is all confetti, but it’s positively gorgeous! (click right)
It’s for Diane’s RR and yes, I’ll be posting late (bad bad Sue), but isn’t she sexy with that one eye peering out from behind that strand of hair? Can you guess which chart it is with all that green?

It’s been wickedly cold here with the windchill… so if I promise to send some arctic air in return will someone please send some warm air up here to VA? It’s COOOOOOLLLLLD! *shivers*